Saturday, May 07, 2016

Giants should seriously consider Lincecum

As many of you know, Tim Lincecum finally threw for scouts on Friday, and apparently had an impressive session. With the Giants struggling in the back-end of their rotation and looking desperately for relief help, they should strongly consider returning one of the most popular Giants of the last decade.

There were scouts from nearly every team in the league on hand to check out the former Cy Young winner's mound session, and all reaction coming from those on hand indicate Lincecum getting a shot redemption. The bulked-up right-hander was sitting right around 90-91 with the heater, and from the few pitches I saw, his breaking ball looked to have a big snap. So, with the positive showing and the problematic hip that he's blamed his struggles the last few seasons on supposedly all healed up he could very well get his wish and be back in a big league rotation at some point in June. He's made it clear his first choice would be to return to being a starter, the Giants should be of major interest because of their need in both the bullpen and starting. I mean, could Lincecum really be any worse than Jake Peavy or Matt Cain have been over the season's first month? It would take him probably about a months worth of time in the minor leagues, basically his version of spring training, before he'd likely be ready to appear at the big league level. That would give Cain and Peavy time and incentive to improve or Timmy could come in and bounce the weaker link to the bullpen. Otherwise they use Lincecum there, where he was a key part of their 2012 postseason run.

Judging by the fact that they wouldn't need to part with any of their own talent to obtain Lincecum, as well as the fact that he'll likely sign a cheap, one-year incentive laden deal, makes him that much more appealing. Also, looking at it from his end, he has to view the Giants as one of his better options for himself. He's obviously familiar with the team, city and ballpark and knows what the expectations are for the team this season. He has to be seeing both Cain and Peavy struggling and figure he could have a shot at one of their spots and if he does come in and put up a sub-4 ERA and pitches well, he'll land himself a multi-year deal over the winter. It just seems like a good fit on both ends as the Giants are a contender that needs pitching anyway they can get it and Timmy needs opportunity anywhere he can get it. The only team that I've seen to have serious interest in Timmy are the Yankees, but that would put him, a fly-ball pitcher, in a smaller yard and one of the tougher offensive divisions in the league. It's not likely to be money that decides where Linceum goes, rather than where he feels his best opportunity to succeed individually in 2016 is, and I still think that should put the Giants right near the top of the list.

The drop-off from after Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardiza has been what's kept the Giants from being up there with the likes of the Cubs and Nationals, although the injuries to the bullpen haven't helped things too much either. This offense, as it showed in Friday night's comeback victory, is set right now. They're healthy, they're deep and they're one of the stronger units in the game. They're certainly championship-caliber there, but I think we all know that they're going to have to add pitching at some point in order to solidify their spot atop the NL West.

6 Comments:

I agree. Lincecum and the Giants need to come to some resolution quickly and get him back in the game. The only other pitcher they have that's worth keeping is Sergio Romo. Ever since they lost "The Beard" and Lincecum, it's been downhill. Sergio is the only one worth his salt. Cain and Bumgarner need to go back to their original spots.